How did it feel, Kagome?

It was like suddenly seeing the world in color, after living all of my life in black and white. Suddenly everything was so clear and vivid, like I was finally living for the first time.

I can remember it like it was yesterday; there he was standing at the counter of the sweets shop I worked at. He was a frequent visitor, always coming in on Friday afternoon and buying four strawberry cakes and a small jar of hibiscus syrup. Sometimes he would stay a little longer and talk with me, though the owner of the shop discouraged it. His whole face lit up when he smiled. Nothing else in the world mattered but his smiling face, his eyes sparkling with mischief.

Soon he started coming by every day around closing time and wait for me outside. He would walk me home, holding my hand as we walked down the street, looking like the cat that got the canary. This went on for months until he finally worked up the courage to give me a goodnight kiss.

There, on the steps of my apartment, he kissed me for the first time. It was awkward and sloppy, but it was at that moment I realized I was in love with him. I felt free, like nothing in the world could stop me.

It felt like flying.